WORLD

Overlooked by a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad and offering sticky sweets, a Syrian tourism booth in Dubai is trying to seize on an emerging rapprochement with Arab states to win back Gulf tourists it lost during more than a decade of war.

The bank said it looked forward to working with Banga on its "ambitions and efforts aimed at tackling the toughest development challenges facing developing countries."

Zelensky thanked Niinisto, whose country became NATO's newest member in April, for its military support so far and said the two have agreed to speed up further deliveries.

Kyiv insisted it had "nothing to do" with the alleged attack, suggesting it was "staged" by Moscow, while the US said the report should be taken with a "shaker of salt".

Residents of his village in Iraq's mountainous far north often find themselves caught in the crossfire between the Turkish army and fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

All Belarusian volunteers, they have taken up arms against Russia's invasion to fight for democracy.

Greece is home to many of the world's leading ship owners, managers and the broader maritime services industry.

The dialogue, announced by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in April 2022, aims to produce political, economic and social reform recommendations that could be presented for Sisi's consideration.

The U.N. agency said Peter Ben Embarek, a Danish scientist who previously headed up its 'One Health' initiative on diseases jumping from animals to humans, was removed from his post last year.

The U.N. has warned that fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) risks causing a humanitarian catastrophe that could spill over into other countries.

The government and Tigray forces agreed to end the hostilities in November, which has allowed additional aid to reach the region and for some services to be restored.

The lucrative trade of poppy tar -- the psychoactive substance in heroin -- has been one of the few constants over decades of war and chaos in Afghanistan.

The European Union executive proposed new laws on Wednesday to step up fighting corruption through aligning definitions and penalties for graft crimes across the bloc, as well as introducing sanctions for corrupt foreigners.

Saudia Arabia signalled approval for Israel's U.S.-sponsored forging of ties with Gulf neighbours United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in 2020 but has held off on following suit, saying Palestinian goals for statehood should be addressed first.

The latest developments came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Finland to meet with Nordic leaders as part of his bid for Ukraine to join NATO.

The tanker, Niovi, was sailing from Dubai towards Fujairah, another port in the United Arab Emirates, when it was stopped by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy.

The UAE delivered food parcels to thousands of refugees displaced amid the ongoing civil-war in Sudan.

The UN's World Meteorological Organization said it now estimated there was a 60-percent chance that El Nino would develop by the end of July, and an 80-percent chance it would do so by the end of September.

Norway and North Korea remain best and worst, respectively, for press freedom, according to the 21st annual report, which was published on World Press Freedom Day.

Witnesses in the blockaded Palestinian territory told AFP that several rockets were fired at Israel around this time.

A Palestinian hunger striker died in Israeli custody on Tuesday, sparking an exchange of fire between Israel and armed groups in Gaza, before three Palestinian officials said the sides had agreed to a ceasefire.

The measures have yet to make much headway against opposition to the hijab, and could worsen economic pressures if they result in the closure of businesses, Iranian activists say.

The chief executive insisted that the students' pivot to ChatGPT was a blip and that clients who kept their faith in the company's products "continue to choose us and retain us at high rates."

After decades of underinvestment, Europe's defence industry is struggling to adapt to a surge in demand sparked by Russia's war on its pro-Western neighbour.

More than 66,000 Syrians ended up in Sudan after their homeland was torn apart by the conflict since 2011, according to U.N. figures, drawn by easy entry requirements.

The rockets could help Ukraine weaken Russian ground positions and provide advancing Ukrainian ground forces with air support as Kyiv plans a spring offensive.

Russian territory and Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, have been hit in recent days by a series of attacks.

Messi, who will turn 36 in June, played in PSG's 3-1 home defeat by Lorient in Ligue 1 on Sunday.

The visit comes just weeks after Iran's landmark agreement to restore ties with regional rival Saudi Arabia and amid a flurry of diplomacy in the Middle East as regional relations with Iran and Syria shift.